I am so honored to have been able to interviewed Jan Romes for my blog. She writes sweet romance, which is a reflection of who she is. This romance junkie cannot get enough of her books! I bet you will feel the same way, too. Thank Goodness, she has so many to choose from as you can see from the graphic above done by Lisette Brodey. Warning, you just can’t read one! 🙂

Hi, Pamela! It’s a joy to be here. Thank you so much for the interview. Talking about my love for books and writing is one of my favorite things to do. So fire away with the questions.

Q: How, when, and why did you start writing?

A: This question makes me dig deep. I’ve been a serious daydreamer for as long as I can remember. I’d make up stories in my head and they’d always have a happy ending. One thing that sets the romance genre apart from some of the other genres is that it requires a happy-ever-after or a happy-for-now ending, so writing romance was a good fit for me. I also write women’s fiction with elements of romance. It was exciting to put those stories down on paper (or the computer) and get them out of my head so I could go on to the next one. My first book was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2011.

Q: Why did you choose to write the romance genre?

A: I’m a hopeless romantic who believes in the gushy, googley-eyed, heart-pounding chemistry between two people – true soul mates who discover they can’t live without each other despite what internal and external conflicts try to keep them apart.

Q: How do you get your ideas and characters for your books?

A: My sister-in-law asks the same question after she finishes my latest book. I just smile and say that my mind never stops (physically, that’s a good thing…lol!). I tease her, but there’s truth at the heart of the comment. My thoughts are always in hyper-mode. I think it’s that way for most writers. One story stops and another starts. I grew up in a large family (six sisters and two brothers). When you’re entrenched with that many siblings and their different personalities you get a treasure trove of ideas to draw from.

Q: Your book No Sweat Pants Allowed – Wine Club is women’s fiction. Was the process any different and/or more challenging than romance?

A: It was a special challenge, for sure. Instead of two main characters I had four. It took a lot of organization to keep the details and personality traits straight. In place of physical intimacy, like I’d write in a romance, I had to construct a different kind of intimacy that unique to best friends. The conflicts I threw at them also had to be distinctive. It wasn’t harder or easier to write women’s fiction, it was just unlike anything I’d tried before.

Q: Why did you decide to publish some of your books through publishers, while others are self-published?

A: Excellent question, Pamela. I’m what’s known as a hybrid author; small-press published and self-published. There are upsides to both paths. I like the security of a publisher. They call the shots as to when it’s published, make the final decision on the cover art, assume the cost of editing and formatting, and have greater marketing power. With self-publishing the responsibility for all of those things, including getting the copyright and ISBN’s belong to me. I like the freedom to decide the cost of my books and when they’ll be available to the public. Since I don’t like to put all my metaphorical eggs in one basket, I’m happy to be a hybrid. Each author has to decide what they want from their writing and publishing experience.

Q: Do you have any upcoming projects?

A: I’m happy to say that today I just finished writing and editing, Sipping Sangria – book #2 in my Wine and Sweat Pants series (women’s fiction). Book #3 will begin soon. I also have an idea for a three-book romantic suspense series and hope to get that underway in early 2017.

First, it is #IndiePrideDay where thousands of independent authors take over social media with pictures of themselves holding up their books. If you are an Indie author or support Indie authors, please join us.

Second, it is the annual July Winter/Summer Sale at Smashwords. I’m sure many of you are thinking – but summer just started. Well, in the Southern Hemisphere they’re having their winter session. Smashwords authors are located around the globe. Thousands of Smashers are putting their eBooks for sale at 25%, 50%, or 75% off their original price. You will find a ton of free eBooks, too! Just use the coupon code when you check out. I’m looking forward to adding even more eBooks into my collection.

When I first started reading Indie’s books I discovered a lot of crappy eBooks on Amazon and Smashwords. Although, I found a few eBooks that were okay. I joined the group A Smashwords Book for Everyoneon Facebook to network and get to know other Indie authors. One of the members, Alianne Donnelly, had a special on a book and I decided to take a chance on it.

I was totally in awe of Alianne’s eBook The Royal Wizard and couldn’t believe it was written by an Indie author. She has her own unique style; however, she is just as good as Anne McCaffrey or Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Since then, I have read and enjoyed every one of her books; except for Wolfen. I’m a wimp when it comes to horror. After reading one well written chapter I started freaking out and knew this book would give me nightmares! If you love horror – Wolfen is for you. I am so honored to have Alianne Donnelly on my blog!

When did you start writing and why?

I started writing pretty much as soon as I learned how to hold a pen. There was never really a reason for it; it was just what I did, a part of who I was. It began as a handful of short poems, then, when I turned twelve, I wrote my first “book” about the victim of a violent crime who turned into a ghost and went on a spree to avenge his death and protect his fiancé. But I didn’t start taking it seriously until my senior year of high school when my English teacher took notice. She was the first adult who read a story I’d written and she encouraged me a great deal to pursue publishing. Without her faith in me, my stories might never have left the dark corners of my computer’s memory.

How do you get your ideas for your books?

I just leave myself open to them. The smallest things can trigger my muse: a song lyric, a scene from a movie, a dream that lingers after I wake up. There are stories going on in my mind almost constantly. Most never do anything except entertain me, but some are so persistent they demand to be written down and shared. You know that saying, “I live in my own little world. But it’s okay, they know me here”? That’s basically me. LOL

Why did you choose to become an Indie author?

It’s a bit of a long story, but here goes…

I was extremely fortunate when I started submitting my work to publishers and agents. I only got two or three rejections before a small, eBook-only publisher accepted one of my books. They taught me a lot about the publishing process, and what it takes to get a book reader-worthy, and I was very happy with them.

Then, a year and a half later, I had a novella on my blog that made me want to play a little. The Beast wasn’t quite publisher-material, so I decided to try self-publishing it. At first, I was only going to save it as a PDF and make it available for download on my website, but then a friend of mine sent me this link to a site called Smashwords.com. I checked it out, wasn’t really impressed with the site itself, but what really sold me was their file conversion process and distribution system. That was really all I needed. Instead of posting The Beast on my website, I could now get it into online stores like Barnes&Noble, Sony, and Kobo all on my own, and Smashwords would do all the heavy lifting. How cool is that!

I liked it so much, I kept going, leaving my original Blood Series with the publisher and distributing all other works through Smashwords. The setup worked quite well. I had a foot in each world, pretty well balanced, and all was shiny. But after a couple of years, I started comparing and realized that one system worked far better with my control freak tendencies than the other. I liked the freedom I had with self-publishing. I liked that I could monitor my sales day-by-day, and I loved that I didn’t have to wait on anyone else to do their job before I could move forward (except my editor). The larger royalty rates didn’t hurt, either.

There was nothing wrong with the publisher I worked with, I just liked autonomy better. So, in 2015, I gave my publisher the required 3-month notice and recovered my rights to the original three Blood Series books. Now it was just a waiting game during which I got all my Indie ducks in a row, re-editing all three books, re-designing all the covers, formatting them, etc. Or so I thought.

Somewhere during those three months, before my books got officially pulled off the virtual shelves, the publishing house did something overnight that was well within their contracts to do, but it went so far against my own personal business plan that any lingering doubt I might have had about going Indie vanished and I started counting down the hours before I could officially break free. As soon as the deadline passed, I re-published my series independently, and I have never looked back.

I am my own boss now, dancing to my own tune, and answerable to no one but my readers—as I believe it should be. If I succeed, it’s because I did it. If I mess up, I have no one to blame but myself—but I also have the power to fix it quickly and without a fuss. That, to me, is absolutely priceless.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

Yes! I have a fantasy romance novel coming out in the next few months (it’s currently in editing and I am aiming for an August/September release date). Dragonblood is a sequel to The Royal Wizard, and continues the greater storyline of a damaged Veil and a people in danger of extinction by following the original heroine’s daughter, Liadan. Dire events were set in motion in that first book, and they sort of blow up in the face of the next generation. Liadan and her twin brother, Fal, bear the brunt of it, and their stories are full of struggle and heartache, and hopefully, when all is said and done, triumph. But it won’t be without a price…

I am over the moon excited about this one and can’t wait to share it with the world.

I am also working on a strange new (for me) project: a series of seven erotic romance novellas about Snow White’s allies. The first one is playing out by chapter installments sent out via email, and will be published in its entirety as an eBook once the last chapter is sent out. It’s something of an experiment, but the feedback so far has been excellent, so I am hopeful. In any case, if nothing else, at least it’s wicked fun to write.

That is the question an author was asking in a book marketing group on LinkedIn. There were many opinions as is often the case with any group. The author was concerned about giving away his book because of all the hard work he put into it. I could hardly blame him because I understand the process.

In case, you don’t understand what goes into creating a book, let me explain it to you. There is research whether it is fiction or nonfiction, in nonfiction the author usually has many years of education and experience behind them. A fiction writer could spend a fortune learning about various writing techniques. A book requires many, many, many hours to write, rewrite, and rewrite. It takes time to find and craft the perfect words into a sentence.

A few authors find publishers, who will foot the bill, unfortunately, they also have control over the content, cover, and the title – even if the author does not like it. Many authors are choosing the self-publishing route to become Indie authors and the cost comes out of their pocket. What are the costs? Editing is a must for a good book and it is hard to edit your own work. I am fortunate that my Father, who is a retired English professor and editor, will edit my first draft. I have another editor and she does my final draft. Some authors will pay out hundreds to thousands of dollars to get the editing done.

Covers sells the books, but a homemade cover rarely does. Book covers can cost from $35.00 to $500.00 depending on the cover designer. Technical savoy authors will format their own eBooks and paperbacks. I have done my paperbacks, but the eBooks formatting looks too difficult for me. I rather pay someone than spend days trying to figure it out. The cost can be anywhere from $35.00 to $125.00.

Book covers, editing, and formatting are the must do’s for a book, but there can be other costs. Some authors will pay a company to do the three basics or more and that can run into a lot of money. Do you understand now why the author was having difficulties deciding whether or not to give his book free, even if it was just a couple of days?

People who read books do not understand this process and want free. I understand why readers do not want to spend a lot of money for books because there is nothing worse than spending your hard earn money on a book that you feel is awful. That is why I feel the middle ground for an author should be to give a short story, novella, or short eBook for free. This way the reader gets a feel for your writing style. Or have an occasional special on the book. If an author is really good most people will gobble up all their books, while waiting impatiently for their next one to come out.

The next area that comes up to free or not to free is psychic readings. People have said that it is a gift from God and you should not charge for it. However, having a voice like an angel and tremendous athletic abilities is also a gift from God; and look at what singers and football players get paid! I can understand not wanting to spend your hard earned money on a possible bad psychic, which is why you need to shop around, and/or get a referral.

Just like authors need to give samples of their writing, psychics can give a mini reading. Psychic lines often give their new customers three minute free or a discount on the first reading. Psychics answer questions in magazine columns. Some readers have radio shows and give callers sample readings. We sometimes get new clients from this avenue. The bad part about free is that it is often not valued and taken for granted. How often do you eat a food sample at the grocery store or food court in the mall and actually buy that product?

I personally do not mind doing some free, I do mind when it is expected of me. One male stranger emailed me once and wrote a couple of paragraphs about himself and his problems. He proceeds to ask me a couple of questions, he went on to say that he was too busy to speak over the phone, but if I answered his questions okay, he might book a session in the future. My response was that is why I do email readings and gave him the link to my email website page. Surprise, I never heard from him again.

Another example was a couple of months ago a woman (with a lot of nerve) called and asked for a free fifteen minute reading. I responded, “This is a business and I need to get paid for my time.” You would think that she should have hung up the phone, but noooo, she went on to ask me if I knew of a psychic that would give her a free fifteen minute reading! Here was my answer, “Are you going to come over and clean my house? Is the grocery store going to give you free food? Nobody I know is going to give you a free reading, they deserved to be paid for their time and skill.” She had no comment after that.

The point of this whole article is there has to be some balance between free and paid. The next time you want something for nothing, put yourself in the other person’s shoes and ask yourself, “Would you give away your time and skill.” Often things you pay for feel more valuable. When someone gives you something for free, please be grateful for their gift.

I do believe that it is good karma to give some things for free. I have the free class “The 3 F’s of Love” that you get when you subscribed to my newsletter. And of course, this author has a free eBook “Pamela’s Love Collection.” You can find the links to the book on my website or at Smashwords, iBooks, Barnes and Nobles, Google Play, Kobo, and Amazon (US only). On my website www.pamelacummins.comyou will find the information about my weekly radio show so you can call in for an answer to your one question. You can submit a free love or dream question that could be chosen for two other monthly columns I write in Bellesprit Magazine.

There is so much controversy over the Kindle Direct Publishing Select program; some authors think that it’s that best thing to happen since the internet, and other authors say not to put all your eggs in one basket. In case you do not know what KDP Select is, it is when an author enrolls their eBook and they can only sell it on Amazon, therefore they have to take off their eBook everywhere else. The readers can get your book free for a limited time and/or there is a limited time promotional discounting for the book. The author’s book is enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited subscription program (like Netflix but for books) and the author gets a 70% royalty for sales in other countries when normally the percentages are much lower.

I can understand why full-time writers and fiction authors may want to enroll when Amazon controls a large percentage of the eBook market. They are going where the majority of book sales are and could get higher earnings. I might do the same if I was in their shoes, but I am an Indie nonfiction author. My eBooks are to educate the public, they are my “Digital Business Cards,” and help get interest in the services that are my money maker. Here are my five reasons that I choose not to go into the KDP Select program:

Today, Indie authors around the planet are bombarding social media with pictures of themselves and their books. It is so amazing to see the support from readers all over social media too, please support an Indie author! Indie authors decided to honor their writing because they did not want to spend years to find an agent and/or publisher. They refused to let a publisher tell them how to write their book, choose their book cover, give them a small percentage of profits, and do very little promoting of their book.

My photo journey to find a photo I like was an adventure. My partner and I went to Crotan Point in Cedar Point, NC on a very humid day. He is very patient because we took a zillion pictures, before I found one that I liked – just like a woman not to like any pictures of herself!

One of the many bridges in Crotan Point.

I used this photo in my Twitter header a long time ago ~ @RevPamela

My partner liked this picture, my father and niece preferred the top one. I thought it was okay.

The Crazy Cat Lady inside of me had to get pictures of my fur babies to Rhiannon’s horror! They do not make a photo session easy!

Finally, Pamela’s Love Collection is Free on Amazon! This author is not in the select program on Kindle because the Libra in me is a diplomat and believes in catering to readers at all major eBook stores.

I was informed by other authors that I needed to get my readers to tell Amazon about a lower price in order to price match a free eBook. That didn’t work. Last Friday, I was reading Reader Magnets: Get Readers to Come to You by Nick Stephenson. He said to email Amazon support with the other eBooks link and they will price match it in three days. And it worked!

I had a blast being interviewed by Marcia Carrington! She asked interesting questions as you will see from the following:

Welcome Pamela!

Q: For how long have you been writing?

A: I have been writing since I was a child. I got the writer’s gene from my Father, Walter Cummins, who is an author, editor, publisher, and a semi-retired English literature college professor. I even had a poem published in a small magazine when I was eight years old.

Q: Have any life experiences inspired you to write your books?

A: My experiences with life is what inspires me to write as a non-fiction author. I began my path of healing, spirituality, and self-growth in 1989. One of my biggest challenges was my love relationships with men. I made a ton of mistakes which helped me become an expert of what not to do, but also what works in relationships. My journey along the path of growth and spirituality has made my life a million times better. My goal is sharing my knowledge so my readers have a better love life. But most importantly, empowerment and self-love for themselves.

Q: Each writer works in different ways with reference to writing. Do you have a writing program/schedule that works for you?